


A+ for Effort

by zenkitty555



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Doctor Strange Kinkmeme, Grades, Linguistics, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, Playboy Stephen, Professor Karl, Professors, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 08:55:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10567908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenkitty555/pseuds/zenkitty555
Summary: Based off the Doctor Strange Kinkmeme prompt:AU where Mordo is Stephen’s professor in college. Thanks to him, he gets his first bad grade. So obviously, young, impulsive, playboy Stephen tries to have a “private conversation” so Mordo will rethink the grade he gave him. Obviously this leads to something more.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Karl is a little older than Stephen in this fic (about 7 or 8 years).

He knew that Stephen Strange had come to bargain for a better grade. The student wasn’t that much younger than him, but sometimes he acted like it. Karl knew he was only in the course because it was a requirement, just like it was a requirement for him to teach the course. In all honesty, he would have rather been working on his dissertation than grading course papers written by undergraduates; many of whom  seemed to have only a very basic grasp of the English language, despite it being their native tongue. He was glad that the class was capped at 15, rather than some of the lecture classes his fellow PhD candidates had been assigned to teach.

“Hi Prof,” Stephen said, practically sauntering into his office.

Stephen actually did have a good grasp of the mechanics of English writing. It was his content that was lacking. 

“I’m guessing you’re here about your paper?” Karl asked.

Stephen had a smirk on his face, and Karl might have found him pleasing to look at, if it weren’t for the fact that he had an arrogance about him that was distasteful. The first few classes he stood out, as he participated well and managed to parrot out facts with ease. As time went on, he noticed Stephen’s cockiness seep into their required discussions. He obviously had no love for linguistics, and seemed to have even less appreciation for the ethnography of communication. 

He would have chalked it up to being ignorant, if his papers didn't reflect a basic awareness of some of the hot topics of the current linguistic world. No, Stephen Strange was just so self involved that he had no interest in the human experience. The odd thing was that the topic of the paper he managed to completely fail was about how his family’s culture impacted him linguistically. He thought that Stephen would have excelled at talking about himself, but he proved the opposite to be true. 

“You know, I’m in my last year, and I’ve been preparing to enter med school, so I can’t accept this grade.”

Karl was taken aback by his statement, and he quietly repeated the the last words, ‘can’t accept this grade’ back at him, smiling in shock.

“Do you know why you got this grade?” Karl asked.

Stephen shook his head. Of course he had no idea.

“Can you tell me what the topic was?”

“How my family influenced my linguistic development?”

“And what did you actually write about?”

He just looked at Karl, and didn’t seem to actually remember what he wrote about. Karl furrowed his brow, and pulled up the file on his computer, looking at it.

“The only thing about you and your family that you wrote about in here was that you’re originally from Nebraska. Then you go into a critique of the Nebraskan school system. While I agree with many of your points, and it was written better than many of your classmates, it completely missed the topic of the assignment.”

“I frankly don’t understand why we are doing this,” Stephen said.

Karl sighed. This kid should be groveling to have his grade changed, or at least another chance to fix his paper. Instead he was combative. He tried to remain patient and polite.

“This is a course on culture and communication. Although it is a required course, it is not the only course that fills the requirements. If you want to withdrawal, your still within the time frame.”

“No! I need to be done with this before the spring semester. I just... I can’t fail this course. I need to graduate summa cum laude, or I could lose my ride to Columbia Med.”

It didn’t take a genius to see that the young man wasn't from the richest or poorest family, and Columbia was incredibly expensive. He obviously cared about his grades, as most would have just accepted the grade and tried harder for the next paper. It was only one paper after all. 

“How can I change it?”

Karl sighed. He was torn. Normally he would allow students to have a second chance at least once during the semester, but part of him wanted Stephen to learn his lesson. His feelings were complicated. 

“I will do anything to change it.  _ Anything _ .”

The way Stephen said anything, combined with his body language, made his skin crawl. The students knew that Karl was gay, as he had casually mentioned it when discussing community discourses, but he never had a student make him feel targeted like this. 

“I have half a mind to throw you out of the class now,” Karl replied as coolly as he possibly could.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Stephen responded.

As he never directly said the words, Karl knew that Stephen Strange would work the system to his advantage if push came to shove. Then he got a good idea to use Stephen’s strategy against him.

“I know a that your are trying your best. Let’s discuss this over coffee, shall we?” Karl suggested.

“Okay.” 

Karl packed up his things, putting the remaining papers for his other class in his bag, and showed Stephen out. 

“So, The Daily Grind?” Stephen asked.

“No, let’s go off campus.”

If Stephen was going to pay this game, so would he. On campus there were too many eyes, too many cameras, and too many ears. It would be too safe for Stephen, and too dangerous for him, so he led Stephen to a cafe near the subway station he normally took. He looked around to make sure none of his students were inside.

Buying Stephen a cup of coffee, he slid it across the table in front of the young man, and sipped on his own herbal tea. It was the only coffee shop in a five block radius that carried the blend he liked. 

“Let’s talk about improving your grade.”

Stephen looked at him a little nervously. 

“So, what can I do?”

“Stephen, I want to hear what you think you can do to improve your paper.”

“I can write it again?”

“Well that is a given, but why should I give you that chance? What else can you do for me?” Karl said smirking.

He could see the man swallow hard, panic started to fill his eyes. He didn’t know what he had gotten himself into. It was obvious that he hadn’t actually meant anything he said back in the office.

“I… I can do many things. I have a good idea about how things work in the world sometimes, and if you tell me what you would like...”

He trailed off. Karl shook his head, smirking.

“I know of something you can do for me.”

He reached over and grabbed one of Stephen’s hands. He stroked the back side of it with his thumb, and felt it shake underneath his from Stephen’s nerves. Although he had a reputation as a wild playboy, Karl highly doubted he had kissed a man. He often saw Stephen after class cornering some of the other girls in the class, trying to charm them into lunch or a date. 

“Tell me how you think your family has impacted your linguistic development,” Karl said, removing his hand.

Karl glared at him. A sour expressions crossed his face, as he wanted to emphasis the severity of Stephen’s insult. He took his job seriously, and Stephen had tried to taint the trust a student and teacher should have.

“Umm. Seriously?”

“Do the paper over, and if you ever pull a stunt like that in my office again, I will do to you something far worse than your perverse game you are trying to play,” Karl threatened.

“I… I’m sorry.”

He honestly did look sorry for his stunt.

“Seriously Strange, what the hell were you thinking anyways?”

“I don’t want to write the paper,” he confessed.

“Why?” Karl asked.

“I just don’t. I don’t want to think about it. I have to focus on my studies, not my family.”

Karl blinked, stunned into silence for a moment. Stephen was afraid or didn’t want to think about his family, so instead he wrote about his community. In a way, Karl felt he failed as an instructor. Of all people, he knew that he should make assignments open and inclusive of people from all backgrounds. Although he didn’t know the reason for Stephen’s reluctance, he should have thought of the possibilities that some people didn’t want to talk about something that could be so personal.

“I will give you another topic, a different topic, but this time you have to follow the topic or your grade will remain,” Karl said.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Stephen said. 

“Next time, if you feel uncomfortable about a topic, come and see me first.”

Stephen nodded, and Karl made a mental note to mention it in further classes. As long as they submitted something on a pre-assigned topic, he knew the department head wouldn’t care too much. She was a fairly understanding individual, if not a little eccentric and strict at times. 

After giving Stephen the modified topic, Karl got up and left the cafe. Thinking about the afternoon, he decided that he had never met a student quite like Stephen, and didn’t know if he would again. 

\----

After Stephen had resubmitted his paper, he managed to get another near perfect score, and seemed a little more subdued with his arrogance in class. He was a good student, wanting to please Karl. Even though they had worked the problem out, Karl noticed that the man didn’t get over his embarrassment easily. Stephen never met his eyes, and spent a lot of the class fidgeting in his chair. 

Karl tried to keep the assignments a little more neutral and non-triggering for the students, or when they did have controversial topics, he would give multiple topics for the student’s to choose to respond to. In a way, Stephen had also taught him a lesson. 

One afternoon, after his office hours had finished, Stephen was waiting outside of his door. His lean frame rested against the bulletin board where the department made announcements and put up advertisements. Karl tilted his head, as Stephen met his eyes.

“Hey Prof,” Stephen said.

“Sorry, office hours are over for today, but if you want to walk with me, you can.” 

Stephen followed him down the halls. 

“I want to thank you for letting me do that assignment again,” Stephen said.

“You are a good student, but you should have a little more faith in people understanding your situation, if you just tell them about it. Don’t try to manipulate them like that.”

“Why not? It’s worked before,” Stephen mumbled. 

Karl stopped in his tracks and looked at the young man, furrowing his brow. It was a little sickening to hear that. Although he knew there were TA’s who dated students, and professors that took advantage, it was the first time he had heard someone talk so frankly about the situation. 

“I know you’re above the age of consent, but don’t you find it morally wrong?” He asked.

“For them maybe, but for me it’s a benefit.” 

Whatever problems the young man had, they ran deep. It was a whole can of worms he did not want to open.

“Anyways, I want to thank you. I thought we could go to that cafe again. I could get you a cup of tea.”

“Uhh, no thank you. It would seem like a bribe if I were to take you up on that.”

Stephen looked at him as if he had an extra head. 

“Well then, could we each buy our own coffee and just talk?”

It was nearing end of term, and Karl had a lot of paperwork, but he felt like there was something Stephen wanted to say beyond thank you. Although Stephen was well known, he knew from the other students' gossip, he wasn’t very close to anyone. When he heard some of their opinions about Stephen before class started, he almost felt sorry for him. 

They sat down with their respective drinks.

“You know, you’re the only professor who actually failed me. Most just would pull me aside and ask if I wanted to do it again.”

“Actions have consequences.”

“Yea, yea, I know.”

It was strange how Stephen avoided his gaze in class, but was now staring at him intensely. He noticed how he shifted ever so slightly every thirty seconds or so. It was almost rhythmic. Occasionally, his tongue would wet his lips, despite the fact he was continuously drinking his coffee.

“I didn't want to do that assignment, because my sister died two years ago.”

Karl looked down at his tea.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“She drowned, a few feet away from me. I have nightmares about it.”

It was a sad story. No wonder he had a hard time with the assignment, but he didn’t know why Stephen was telling him this now. It wasn’t as if anything changed, or that he had asked for an explanation. 

The young man’s secrets were as dark and ran as deeply as his own, but he wasn’t going to share that anytime soon with a student.

“Thank you for feeling like you can share that with me.”

“You’re the first person I’ve told since it happened.”

He didn’t know if he wanted to hear that, but he decided that he should listen politely.

“So, that’s one reason I have to go to the best medical school I can. That and to set an example for my brother Victor. If you hadn’t let me redo that paper, I may not be able to go.”

“Well, like I said before, just have more trust in people. Most have some empathy in them. If they don’t, then you can do it your original way,” Karl joked.

Stephen laughed. The young man had a good laugh, deep and smooth. Karl tried not to notice before, but he knew Stephen would turn out to be a fine speciman of a man, despite his personality. 

Although they could have kept talking for longer, Karl needed to go home and prepare for the next day's classes. It was getting late, and Stephen probably also needed to do some work for his own classes. 

This time they both walked to the subway. It seemed that they lived off the same line. They walked to one of the ends of the platform, as it would be less crowded, and it was easier to hear one another if no trains were passing by.

There were quite a few people, being that it was rush hours, and Stephen stood close to him. He was close enough where Karl could smell the young man’s cologne. He was surprised as he felt his heart racing from being so close. Karl felt a little ashamed for his attraction to his student.

Stephen pressed his mouth against Karl's, taking him by surprise. It was fucked up, but Karl parted his lips to allow Stephen to kiss him deeper. He groaned softly from the contact. 

It had been a while since he kissed someone, and Karl assumed that he was too starved to stop himself. They only stopped when someone started to yell at them to get a room. 

“Fuck. I hate this place sometimes,” Stephen growled.

Karl closed his eyes for a moment, his head filling with different thoughts, and his heart feeling heavier than before.

“This was a mistake,” Karl said. 

“What?” 

“You are my student. This was not a good idea, it was the opposite of one.”

He wasn’t sure who he blamed more, himself or Stephen. Stephen looked at him with surprise. It was hard to know what to do in this kind of situation. 

When the train finally came, he and Stephen got in the same car, but he could feel Stephen looking at him. Right before the doors closed, he jumped out, leaving Stephen trapped behind some people and the now closed door. It was the only sensible thing he had done since they had left the hallway of his office. 

Horror and fear overtook him as the next train arrived. 

\----

Stephen didn’t come to the last two regular classes, but showed up for the final. Karl wasn’t going to penalize him, as he knew that he was at fault for the whole situation. If only he had been stronger, more steadfast in his resolutions. It was hard to look at the man and think about that evening waiting for the train. 

When the test finished, he wanted to call out to Stephen, to try and fix things, but he felt so many negative emotions, he left the classroom before he made a mistake. Thankfully, he would probably never see Stephen Strange again, as he left for his office. When he got there, he pulled out the tests, and started to mark them. Stephen’s was the first one, and he entered the young man’s grade into the computer system. He wanted the semester to be over, in order to recover from the personal trauma he had suffered from his student coming onto him.

He thought he would be safe, until there was a knock on the door, and Stephen walked in, shutting and locking the door behind him. Karl stood up in surprise.

“Look. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to do that. I mean, I didn’t want to put you in some morally compromised position, at least not with your job. I just think we’re good together.”

“Mr.Strange,” he hoped the formality would discourage him, “if you are lonely, there are many that can suit your needs. This is not a small campus, nor is it a small city. I’m sure you can find someone more appropriate.”

“I don’t want someone more appropriate.”

His eyes were intense, filled with desire and followed Karl as he moved for the door. Stephen stepped in front of it, blocking him.

“I am still your professor,” Karl lied to him.

“Well, no one has to know about that.”

Stephen took a step closer, so Karl took a step backward. He continued this until Karl was up against his desk, nearly sitting on top of papers.

“If you want me to go, I will, but we both know, you want this.”

Karl opened his mouth to argue, but closed it almost immediately after. Technically, he may not be Stephen’s professor, as he had already finished all of the paperwork for Stephen’s grades. It would be difficult to prove impropriety. 

Stephen leaned in to kiss him, and Karl tilted his head slightly up to meet his lips. He let the other man lead for a second, before switching their positions. He pressed Stephen against his desk and the papers on it. Stephen hadn’t been expecting it, and nearly fell over. Straightening himself out, Karl looked at him, with his slightly tousled hair, and reddened mouth. It was hard to believe that seconds earlier he had been grading Stephen’s paper, and now he was on his desk, his legs splayed open over a corner, leaning back on his elbows. 

“You are impossible, infuriating, selfish, arrogant, and think you deserve the world on a platter. You have no idea what you have gotten yourself into,” Karl scolded.

“Are going to school me Prof? I still need to be taught a lesson or two. You know I missed a couple of classes the last few weeks.”

“And you will be punished for it,” Karl teased.

He couldn’t fight it anymore. Stephen had broken him in more ways than one, challenging his concepts of right and wrong, and he couldn’t stop himself. He didn’t want to let this man go, especially since they had been dancing around each other nearly all semester. 

He pressed his mouth against Stephen’s, while Stephen slid his hands to Karl’s belt, unbuckling it, and then unzipped his pants. Unbuttoning the blue dress shirt, Stephen’s hands roamed over his torso under the shirt, feeling the hair over his chest and groaning into Karl’s mouth. Karl removed his now former student’s shirt, finally breaking their kiss. He leaned back to admire the man’s frame. He looked quite different from Karl, lean and long, and body hair sparsely decorating his body. Karl had always had a wider frame, but found it easy to put on muscle and maintain it. 

Stephen had a hungry look to him.

“Have you ever had sex with a man before?” 

Stephen shook his head. 

“I’ve fooled around a bit.”

Although at first Karl thought Stephen was straight, he wasn’t that surprised to hear he wasn’t totally inexperienced, after they kissed on the subway platform, given how aggressive he had been on that afternoon. Thinking back on it, it seemed that Stephen had planned some of that. The young man was a bit more cunning than he tried to let on, but Karl could normally read him like an open book. 

“That’s okay. We’ll take it slow. I don’t have anything here anyways.”

Stephen looked at him sheepishly. 

“I have some in my bag.”

Karl tilted his head to the side. It was unexpected, but he knew he shouldn’t be surprised. He smiled gently at Stephen. He didn't want to rush things.

“I just want to see you touch yourself right now.”

Stephen licked his lips, his hands slightly shaking from anticipation, as they slid down the fly of his jeans. Karl’s heart started to beat a little faster as he watched Stephen take his semi-erect cock out of it’s confines. He watched as Stephen made a show of it, sloppily licking the palm of his hand before bringing it down to his erection again. 

Karl sat back in his chair, his legs spread. He managed to resist touching himself as he watched Stephen. It was a test of his will power, as he watched Stephen’s long fingers wrapped around the shaft, moving up and down with his thumb occasionally stroking the head of his cock. The image was too much, and Karl leaned over, touching the base and Stephen’s testicles, before nudging the man to lift his hips. Karl pulled Stephen’s pants down to his knees, and then stroked his inner thighs. 

Stephen was practically panting at this point, occasionally moaning out softly, and his face pinked up. With his eyes half-lidded, he let out a small cry before he came over his abdomen. Karl took a finger and smeared it over the young man’s abs, feeling the sticky liquid grasp onto the small hairs that dusted the area. 

The confidence that he normally found in Stephen’s face was momentarily replaced by a shy embarrassment, before he kicked off his pants and climbed off the desk, into Karl’s lap. Karl worried for a moment that the chair wouldn’t be stable enough for two men, but it held out. 

He closed his eyes as he felt Stephen pet his erection through his clothes. It felt dirty, but at the same time he wanted him even more because of it. Stephen’s mouth pressed against his softly, coaxing him to part his lips. He lightly nipped at Karl’s bottom lip, and Karl felt a sticky hand on his erection, unfurling him. Breaking from the kiss, he put his forehead against Stephen’, and looked at him. Stephen still had his eyes half-lidded, and a dreamy expression on his face. Karl wondered if anyone else had ever seen Stephen like this.

Removing Stephen’s hand from his cock, he brought it up to his mouth, sucking on one of the man’s fingers; their tastes mixed together. As his tongue traced the pad of Stephen’s forefinger, Stephen added his middle finger, groaning loudly. Stephen reached down with his other hand, spreading the pre-cum from the head of Karl’s cock down his shaft. The movements were clumsy, since he was using his non-dominant hand, so Karl wrapped his hand around Stephen’s to help him. He released Stephen’s fingers from his mouth as he became closer. Tilting his head back slightly, Stephen captured his mouth, and he came, splattering his shirt and Stephen’s naked body with cum. 

As he regained his composure and his lustful desires dissipated, he tried to push all his mortified feelings away. Stephen leaned in to kiss him once more, and when they broke, Stephen looked at bottom of Karl’s shirt. Karl knew Stephen was grinning at his work. He shook his head at the situation.

“Next time you should invite me over to your place, or at least buy me dinner first,” Stephen joked.

Karl smiled in disbelief, laughing a little. 

“You think there will be a next time?” He asked.

“Of course there will be. Don’t you know, I always accomplish what I set my mind to?”

He nodded, he could see that was indeed true. If anything, Stephen Strange was a very persistent and diligent student, albeit a bit morally compromised. 

  
  


\---Many Years Later---

“What do you got for me Billy?” Stephen asked.

“He will call you back when we arrive,” Karl scolded before turning off the phone.

Stephen turned his head for a second to look at Karl, as they continued on the windy backroad of the Pennsylvania/New York border. Karl shook his head at him.

“Eyes on the road Stephen. You know if they catch you, it’s the same as a DUI.”

The road was nearly pitch black, and Stephen’s toy was fast, but not build for this kind of thing. They came up behind another vehicle, and Karl made a noise of disapproval as Stephen was driving a bit recklessly. He backed off, even though Karl could feel the man roll his eyes.

“If you’re not careful you’ll get in an accident or worse. How will I ever be able to face Victor if that happens?”

“Sometimes I think you love Vic more than me,” Stephen teased.

He and Stephen owed Victor a great deal of gratitude. After Karl had made Stephen go visit his father while he was on his deathbed, Stephen had stopped talking to him for about two years, until Victor stepped in to bring them back together. He was the better Strange brother by far.

“It would be an upgrade.”

“Sick how you pray on the young. I should have reported you a long time ago for seducing your student, you dirty old man,” Stephen joked.

Karl scoffed at him. 

“As I told you before, you were technically no longer my student.”

Stephen grinned, and Karl put his hand on Stephen’s leg gently. He really hated all of these functions for Stephen’s work, but sometimes it was the only time they could get together. There was something calming about these little moments, like driving on the backroads, where they could take some time out of their busy schedule to chat and joke. Karl looked over at his husband, glad that he had at one time thrown caution to the wind.


End file.
